Throughout Columbus North’s eight-game winning streak and run to the sectional championship, the Bull Dogs made a habit of coming from behind in the late innings.
Tuesday night, in the first regional softball game ever hosted by Columbus North, Center Grove made sure there were no such heroics. The Class 4A No. 3 Trojans scored six runs in their final three trips to the plate and got a no-hitter from Abby Herbst in a 7-0 victory.
“She really controlled the game,” North coach Ron McDonald said. “She hit her spots. She lived on that outside corner. We knew if (the umpire) gave her a little bit of that outside corner, that we were in trouble, and that’s what happened.”
Herbst was dominant in the circle. After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the first, the Bull Dogs (15-9) had their only baserunner when Rachel Cowan reached on an error. Herbst then retired the final 19 batters she faced.
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“She was really good,” senior catcher Bailey Lofton said. “She’s going to Wisconsin. She’s a D-I pitcher. Obviously, she’s a very good pitcher. We came in, and we needed to adjust, and I don’t think we adjusted like we were supposed to against a really good pitcher like that.”
The Bull Dogs struck out only seven times against Herbst. However, their other 14 outs all came on groundouts or popups to the pitcher, catcher or right side of the infield.
The only ball North was able to pull on Herbst was the grounder to short in which Cowan reached on the error.
“We were told in the scouting reports that (Herbst) didn’t have a change-up,” McDonald said. “She had a good change-up. The middle of our lineup, she worked that change on them, and I thought that got us off stride.”
North freshman Peri Foust retired the Trojans (25-3) in order in the first, but then gave up a home run to Lexi Fair leading off the second.
Center Grove looked like it would break things open in the fourth when it loaded the bases with nobody out. But Bull Dog shortstop Sierra Norman made a running catch behind third base and flipped to Lexi Heafner at third to complete a double play. Foust then came back with a strikeout to get out of the inning.
The Trojans did manage to add a pair of runs in the fifth on RBI-singles by Addy Osborn and Herbst. Center Grove broke it open with a three-run sixth, highlighted by a two-run, pinch-hit homer from Kaci Finchum off North reliever Rachel Cowan, and added the final run in the seventh.
“The fifth inning, we were still neck and neck with the No. 3 team in the state, and that’s where we want to be,” McDonald said. “We got farther than we ever thought we would. We know what it takes next year to get to this level and get past this level.”
North went 1-25 in 2017, McDonald’s first year with the program. The Bull Dogs improved to 6-15 last year and started 0-4 this season before picking up steam.
“We came in this year, and we were ready to win,” Lofton said. “The past years didn’t matter to us. We needed to do things this year that we’ve never done before, and that was kind of our saying this year, and we did it. We did what we were supposed to.”
Lofton was the team’s only senior starter. North also started two juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen.
With another strong class coming in next year, McDonald is hoping for more championships the next few years.
“I put (the rebuilding process) in three phases,” McDonald said. “The first two years was teaching, getting used to our system and trying to get girls out that were athletic. Then the second phase the next two years was that our main objective was to compete for the sectional and compete for the conference, and we’ve done that. The third phase is, hopefully we can compete all the way to state.”
